Roadbed simulating attachment for railroad tracks



Jan- 12, 1954 R. E. SMITH ET AL '2,665,848

ROADBED SIMULATING ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD TRACKS Filed March 9, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l IIIIII'II .w um' Zmllmmn III/II ATTORNEY Jan. 12, 1.954 R. E SMITH ETAL 2,665,848

ROADBED SIMULATING ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD TRACKS Filed March 9, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I l BY i5) I ATTORNEY Jan. l2, 1954 R. E. SMITH ET AL 2,665,848

ROADBED SIMULATING ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD TRACKS Filed March 9, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 'iivr /35 l 1 1 f I l l l 1 l INVENTORS 617m) m14, W,

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 12, 1954 UNITED ATENT- oFFiCE' asfissia ROADBED srMULATiNG ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD TRACKS Raymond E. smimHamaen, anavMarice H.

Romer, East Haven, Conn., assignors to` The. A. C. Gilbert Company, New Haven, Conn., a

corporationI of Maryland Application "March 9, 1950,' Serial No. 148,596 'Tommasi (01.238410) This invention relatesn'to trackslfor toywrail-Y roads and particularlyto improved track bed u riits'preferablyy constructed so that conven-` tional toy track railsections may be used eitherwith or without the supplementary bed units of these improvements. Y t t Y t In toy railroads it has been customary to unite laterally spaced toy rails into Va rigid skeleton track section byv meansl ofcrossties or sleepers transversely underlying the rails and xed thereto. Suchv crossties in toyY railroads arevusually spacedfor cheapnessv` and simplicity considerablyfarther apart lengthwise of the rails in proportion to the `gauge of the track than are the Wooden crossties or'sleepers in real' railroad,l construction. Inthoustehold use such toy track sections commonly'restuponY a smooth table; top` or polished floor anda plurality of them,

some straight and some curved. are joined to` gether end-to-endto make up various layouts of a toy-track often including sidings or deadd ended spur tracks. The latter in particular are subject to accidental displacement from their proper position, having no means at the dead end for staying them in relation to the surface on which they rest.

Toy track sections have been proposed of more t realistic appearance than the conventional kind described above and have included toy roadbed structure of surface contour intended tosimulate the tops of dummy sleepers. But such road# bed simulating structures as heretofore proposed-' have taken the place of actual crossties or Y sleepers,v the toy rails being held spaced by and permanently mounted separately and directly on molded slabs of stiff material contoured to represent the roadbed. y j

It isan object of the present improvements to provide a mat adapted to serve as a removable base for conventional toy track sections of the V40 skeleton style which mat faithfully simulates or Y strongly suggestive of; a roadbed preferablyv ballasted by crushed'rock and having sleepers embedded therein.- Conventional track section 'of s the skeleton kind including crossties underlying the rails can be assembled with` the bed structure of these improvements in such manner that at least part of the crossties are sunk below the top surface of the bed structure and preferably removably embedded therein to such depth that their top surfaces alternate with and lie in lcoplanar relation `to the simulated top surfaces of dummy-sleepers vconfigured on the top.I surface of the bed structure. The'invention aims to give to theresulting bed equipped-com ventional track section the appearance of rails: i supported by like sleepers that are located as: closely together in proportion to theggauge of' the track as in realrailroad construction.

structure to the projecting crossties of the track section by 'nger manipulation.

A contributory object isto provide a mat of ,j the character described made of suchmoderatelyDAV soft stretchy resilient material that itl can be..y secured removably tothe projecting crossties of" av conventional `toy track lsection by a buttoning on sort of manipulation. A still further object Visnto lconstruct a toy railroad track section composedof a `roadbed simus lating body possessing a strong tendency to clingr Without sliding on `anysmooth polished support surface and carrying a multiple railtype of metallic toy ,track unit anchored thereto, the` track rails in no part depending on the bedbody for their relative xity.

These and other objectives of the inventiYori'v Will appear in greater particular inthe follow-4 ing description of a successful embodiment of the invention having reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of joined end to end and incorporating the presen improvements. f

Fig. 2 shows the flexible beu mat' or the straightv track unit of Fig. 1 partially separated from the stiff skeleton structure vrof the'conven-i tional toytrack section.

Fig. 3 isa fragmentary plan view of an ,e'ob portion of the improved bed mat Withthe rail* and crosstie conventional track section removed therefrom.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan 'view of the vbed matl of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5, 6 and-7 are views taken in section yon:

the planes 5--5, {i1-6 and 7,-?, respectively, in Fig. 3 looking in the directions of the arrows. v

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view drawn on an er1-, U larged scale Vtaken in section on the plane Bf in Fig. 1 looking in the direction Aof the arrows.'

Figs. 9 and l0 show'respectively the conventional track section and underlying matunit of Fi`g.f2 wholly separated from each other.

, 2@o,r'n'lorifi' straight and curvedtoy track unitsdetachably Fig. 11 shows the fingers of an operators hands in the act of buttoning-on or peeling olf the flexible bed mat with respect to one of the crossties.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view showing a modied configuration of the base mat of the straight track unit in Fig. 1.

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the modified mat in Fig. 12, partially broken away at its crosstie anchoring ends.

Fig. 14 is a view taken in section on the plane I4-I4 in Fig. 13, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged view of a fragment of Fig. 14 showing the track section and mat of Fig. 12 in process of being separated.

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary perspective view vof the end portion of a still further modified configuration of base mat.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 9, 12 designates in its entirety a conventional toy track section including stiff preferably hollow metallic rails 3 with their usually metallic underlying crossties or sleepers I4, the sheet metal of each .of these crossties in 'usual fashion having struck-up tongues I which fold over the base flanges of the'rails for securing the latter in fixed relation to the crossties. There may be the usual folded piece of paper or cardboard I6 between the rail ange and the sleeper tongue to electrically insulate these parts from each other. This conventional construction produces a rigid unitary structure of skeleton nature in which form it is generally placed in use in the usual household layouts of toy railroad resting on a table top or floor surface contacted by the crossties I4 which support the track rails I3. Ends of the rails are detachably connected in alignment by a coupling pin I'I nxedly lodged in the hollow end of one rail and removably insertable in the hollow end of the companion rail aligned therewith.

Owing to the unnaturally wide spacing apart of sleepers It along the track rails I3, a circuitous course of toy track composed of merely skeleton sections Vsuch as I2 fails of realism of resemblance to actual railroad construction wherein the sleepers are much closer together in proportion to the gauge of the `track and are usually embedded in coarse gravel or crushed rock to ballast the roadbed. Heretofore when toy track rails have been equipped with bed structure to more faithfully resemble a real railroad track, actual sleepers or crossties such as I4 have been dispensed with and the track rails i3 have been xedly joined separately and permanently to an underlying bed structure comprising a rigid slab of material having external contours intended to resemble a roadbed.

According to the present improvements there is'provided a bed structure in the form of a mat 20 having a series of pseudo crossties or sleepers 2I configured in its upper surface. But the improved mat is made of moderately soft resilient stretchable material such as natural or snythetic rubber, the mat comprising a slablike body having an external configuration resembling in miniature the ballasted roadbed of a railroad track. In mat 20 there is sunk below its top surface depressed areas such as depressions or rectangular sockets 23 whose side walls 24 are slanted in an undercut manner to produce the prole of dovetail shape most clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 8.

The width of the socket at the depressed A side by ledge V35 are more shallow than depresf sleeper seating surface 22 equals the maximum overall width of the sleeper at its bottom turnedout edges 26 and the sleeper admitting mouth of the socket has a smaller width equal to the width of the relatively narrow top surface 2'I of the sleeper.

Helped by relative thinness of the surrounding Walls of the cavity 23 provided by suction cup hollows I9 in the bottom of mat 20 and by the soft resilient property of the material of the mat there is enough yield to the tapering lips 25 which border the tops of sockets 23 so that each localized portion of the length of mat 2U which contains a socket 23 may by temporary distortion of the shape of such socket be buttoned onto one of the projecting crossties I4 .of the rigid track unit. Such distortion of the soft rubber of the bed structure is easily permitted in the manner illustrated in Fig. 11 whereby the crosstie may be forced into tting and filling occupancy of the socket as shown in Fig. 8. Thus the bed structure contains and clings firmly and simultaneously to a plurality of the crossties while the tops of the latter are on a common level with the pseudo ties 2l configured in the top surface of the mat.

The bottom of pad 2U is recessed to a shallow extent in surface areas 23 leaving coplanar border ridges 29 of soft rubber adapted to contact with a table top or floor surface on which the mat rests, while the before-mentioned deeper hollows I9 produce a suction cup effect vaugmenting the natural tendency of the rubber ridges 29 to cling to a smooth support surface on which they rest. Thus the mat as a Whole strongly resists accidental sliding displacement from its designed relationship to associated sections of a track layout. The construction described serves effectively to lessen and deaden all tinny, rattling and objectionable metallic sounds which emanate from conventional toy railway tracks when toy trains are operated thereon and the increased realism of sight and sound that results adds greatly to the pleasure of playing with modern toy trains as well as serving effectively to protect the household surfaces on which track systems are commonly laid out.

While the dummy sleepers 2l of the mat configuration in Figs.` 1 to 11 of the drawings rise but slightly above the imitative rocky roadbed surface 32 that intervenes between them, such intervening Vroadbed surface may be depressed to any desired depth to resemble more nearly an unballasted roadbed of gravel wherein more or all of the height of the dummy sleepers upstands from such depressed bed surface. In one such modification shown in Figs. 12 to 15 the sloping external edges 33 of the mat 3| are retained so that there is a continuous marginal border as high as the top surfaces of the crossties extending longitudinally of the mat past both ends of all crossties and integral with the modified dummy sleepers 34 and preferably retaining a surface conguration mitative of crushed rock or gravel.

Figs. 14 and 15 show a possible way of removably attaching mat 3l to the toy track section I2 wherein only eachrone of the end crossties I4 of the track section has only its outer foot flange 26 removably anchored by an overhanging ledge 35 of the resilient material of the mat in the manner of the slanting side Walls 24 of depressions 23. The depressions 36 bordered at one sionsiZSTihFigs. ltofll, andmay lbebordered ati theirfother sidesby simple ridges such as 3i. The'manner in which an end of. mat 3i may be peeled oir from the conventional track section is shown-in Fig. 15 wherein the ledge 35 resilient ly yields-'toits distorted shape there shown for permitting the departure of iiange Llit from the recess 3G. It will automatically spring back to the'n'orinal position shown in broken lines in Fig:v l'and in full linesv in Fig. 1li each time it is thus temporarily distorted for anchoring the crosstie flange 25 or removing it from thevmat. There is also stretch in the thin base wall of the mat between ridge and ledge 35 and this enablesthe crosstie to beifully seated in depression 35. Y

For even greater simplicity, all dummy sleepers such as is may be omitted from coniiguration-ornaat inligs. 12 to 15 andthe mat body may` instead consist merely of a slab like 3i eX- ceptl channeled lengthwiseV to the continuous depth of the depressed surfaces 33 which intervene between the dummy sleepers 35.

The tops 2l of the dummy sleepers such as 2l and 3d may be surface covered to exactly duplicate the surface appearance or" the crossties is. if desired.

Fig. 16 illustrates a still further modification of the mat of Figs. l2 to 15, wherein the sloping longitudinal border edges 33 of the mat Si are on a common level with the tops oi ledges 35 and ridges 3l, whereby the dummy sleepers 3d together with the crossties appear to stand inthe clear to a common height above the intervening top surfaces of the mat which may be coplanar with the said top surfaces of ledges 35 and ridges 3i.

When neighboring mat equipped track units are joined together both the rails and the mat ends of the contiguous units meet in a way to avoid any cracks therebetween as is shown to be the case in Fig. l where a straight unit incorporating the invention is coupled to a curved unit incorporating the invention, the elements of the curved unit corresponding to elements of the straight unit being designated by the same reference numerals primed. The manner or" manipulating the stii conventional track section and the bendable resilient base mat to button the latter onto the former will be clear from Figs. 11 and 15 and this is done before the resulting units are coupled together end to end.

Fastening sockets for the purpose or depressions 23 may take the :form of metallic spring expansion sockets of the snap catch kind permanently embedded either as an insert in the body material of the mat or carried by the metallic structure of a conventional track section. In the former case the rails or sleepers will carry the cooperative snap plug of the fastener which enters and clings to the snap socket. In the latter case such snap plug will be carried by the mat.

Countless variations being possible in the coniiguration of the bed mat herein illustrated for teaching the invention, the appended claims are directed to and intended to cover in addition to the modifications specifically mentioned herein all other modifications coming within the broadest interpretation of the definitions of the invention as recited in the claims.`

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture adapted for removable attachment to a skeleton section oi' toy track comprising laterally spaced apart toy tracksrails; iixedly,A united byfstructural c1"ossties.4

underlying and spacedy apart.r along the. rails, an;-

accessory. mat comprising a slab-like bodyoi' flexible resilient material hav-ing. an externall configuration` resembling, in miniature ythe roadbed of a railroad trackincluding, inurelietcontouronthe topV surface of the mat a pseudo rep resentationV of the top portions of structuralk spaced` apart crossties,. saidfrnat containing a plurality of separate spaced apart sockets formed bythe material of saidbodybelow saidtop surface of the/mat and located between saidv pseudoy cross-ties, veach of said sockets being separatelyexpansibie by distortion of said material and, normally of shape andsize to admit vthereto and closely conformv tov the top portion of. only a singieone orY the crossties.

2. -An accessory adaptedfor readyattachmenttoand ready removalfrom spaced apart structural crossties' of a-sectionof toy.- track, comprising, aimatimitative of af toy track roadbed` embodying a iiexible resilient body of suiiicient length to extend along the track past more than two of the structural crossties, said mat containing cavities opening through the top surface thereof spaced apart lengthwise of the mat in positions to admit a single structural crosstie within each of said cavities, and a configuration in relier formed at the top surface of said mat by the material of said body located between said cavities and approximately duplicating in plan the size and shape of the top surface of one of the structural crossties.

3. An accessory adapted for ready attachment to and removal from spaced apart structural crossties of a section of toy track, comprising, a mat imitative of a toy track roadbed embodying a exible resilient body of sufficient length to extend along the track past more than two of the structural crossties, said mat containing cavities spaced apart lengthwise of the mat and opening through the top surface thereof to form elongate apertures therein, each of said apertures having its length disposed c rosswise said body and closely conforming in plan shape and size to the top of an individual structural crosstie, and at least one conguration in relief formed at the top surface of said mat by the material of said body located between said cavities and approximately duplicating in plan the size and shape of said aperture.

4. As an article of manufacture an imitative roadbed accessory as dened in claim 3, in which there are a plurality of spaced apart configurations like the said conguration in relief and the said top surface of the mat is at least as long from aperture to aperture as is the length of the said apertures.

5. As an article of manufacture an imitative roadbed accessory as dened in claim 3, in which the lengthwise extending cross sectional prole of the said mat is of undulating shape comprising coplanar portions of a bottom wall of the mat underlying the said cavities and at least one portion of a top wall of the mat including the said top surface thereof, all of said walls being substantially thinner than the overall thickness of the mat and said top wall portions and bottom wall portion being located at respectively diferent height levels within the overall thickness of the mat.

6. A kit of separable parts for building toy railroads comprising, a toy track section having rails united by underlying structural crossties spaced therealong, and a mat imitative in mm1' ature of a roadbed adapted for ready attachment to and ready removal from said crossties, embodying a flexible resilient body of suicent length to extend beneath said rails past more than two of said structural crossties, said mat containing cavities opening through the top surface thereof spaced apart lengthwise of the mat, each of said cavities beingof shape and size to admit only one of said structural crossties therewithin, and a conguration formed in relief at the top surface of said mat by the material of said body located between said cavities and approximately duplicating in plan the size and shape of the V.top surface of one of said structural crossties.

7. As an article of manufacture adapted for `removable attachment to a skeleton section of :toy track comprising laterally spaced apart toy :track rails xedly united by structural crossties `underlying and spaced `apart along the rails, an :accessory mat comprising a slab-like body having an external coniguration resembling in miniature the roadbed of a railroad track including in relief contour on the top surface of the mat a pseudo representation of the top portions of structural spaced apart crossties, said mat containing a plurality of separate spaced apart sockets formed by the material of said body below said top surface of the mat and located between said pseudo crossties, each of said sockets being of shape and size to admit thereto and closely conform to the top portion of only a single one of the crossties.

RAYMOND E. SMITH.

MAURICE H. ROMER.

15 References Cited in the le 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,800,956 Peterson, Jr. Apr. 14, 1931 20 1,969,279 Satterthwaite Aug. 7, 1934 2,562,623 Levering July 31, 1951 

